The state may investigate former Scranton School District employees who could have been involved in possible cheating on standardized tests.
During an executive session before Monday night's work session, Carolyn C. Dumaresq, Ed.D., the state's deputy secretary for elementary and secondary education, spoke to the school board about the state's role in the investigation.
Several directors have questioned the consistency and thoroughness of the investigation conducted by Superintendent William King.
Scranton was one of six districts identified by the state in September for possible manipulation of answer sheets for standardized tests taken between 2009 and 2011.
The state Department of Education directed Mr. King to conduct his own investigation last year to determine whether adults altered answer sheets. The state accepted his findings, and based on the probe, Mr. King gave letters of reprimand to four teachers and recommended dismissal of another.
In January, the school board granted union grievances that removed the letters from the teachers' files, and the dismissal of the teacher, who has been suspended without pay, has gone to arbitration.
School Director Lyn Ruane, who is conducting her own investigation into the cheating, said Dr. Dumaresq said the state may investigate Scranton educators who have left the district but are still educators.
After Monday's meeting, directors said their main goal is to create a policy to make sure cheating can never happen again.
Efforts to obtain further information from the state were unsuccessful late Monday.
Bus proposal
In other business:
- The board heard a presentation from Bus Shield, a company that installs cameras on school buses. Along with multiple cameras on the inside of the bus, a camera on the stop arm would be installed and would capture license plates of anyone illegally passing a stopped bus.
The system, which can be monitored remotely, would be installed at no cost to the district. Those caught on camera passing one of the district's 60 buses would be issued citations, and the district and city of Scranton would each get 12 percent of the fine costs. The other 76 percent would go to Bus Shield.
City ordinances would need to be changed, and Scranton acting Police Chief Carl Graziano, who was at the meeting, had several concerns about the legality of issuing tickets using the cameras. He estimated that about 50 citations for passing buses were issued last year - far fewer than representatives from Bus Shield estimated would be issued. Part of that may be because of not having enough police officers to enforce it now, they said.
School board President Sean O'Shea credited Director Bob Sheridan with bringing the idea to the board. District officials will investigate several legal issues before any contracts are signed.
- At their meeting on Monday, directors are expected to pass a resolution for a study to look at options for a new gymnasium for West Scranton High School. Options may include expanding the gym at West Scranton Intermediate School or building a new structure behind the high school.
- Because of two school days lost to Superstorm Sandy and two snow days, students will have school on Thursday, March 28, and Monday, April 1. Election day on Tuesday, May 21, will be an early dismissal day instead of a day off for students, and graduation day has been moved to Tuesday, June 11. Mr. King will ask for law enforcement to be present at schools that are used for polling sites.
Contact the writer: shofius@timesshamrock.com, @hofiushallTT on Twitter